Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

stevemis

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
771
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-032308-sjf-gunonplane.1c4cabd1.html

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- A US Airways pilot’s gun accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to as statement released by the airline. The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. And airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight. A Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman reached by WCNC Sunday said the pilot is part of TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, which trains pilots to carry guns on flights. Andrea McCauley said the gun discharged in the cockpit, but she could not release how the gun was being transported at the time. She did not release the pilot’s name, but said he was authorized to carry the weapon and was last requalified in the FFDO program last November. A statement from TSA said the airplane was never in danger, and the TSA and the Federal Air Marshals Service are investigating the incident. WCNC reporter Diana Rugg is following up on this story. If you or someone you know were on that flight, please e-mail her at [email protected].
 
It's too early to pass judgment, but it sounds to me someone didn't keep their finger off the trigger...
Click to expand...

I agree that it's too early to pass judgement, but why would the gun be out of storage, let alone the holster?
 
My guess is that the gun was unholstered and in a pocket of his flight bag. He probably reached in the bag to grab something and grabbed the trigger instead.

Or he was playing with the gun in the cockpit. Showing it to the copilot or some such.
-
 
This could be twisted to our advantage if we spin it right.

What this demonstrates is that it IS possible for a round to be fired inside of an airplane without it automatically going down in a flaming wreck, as many people seem to think.
 
This could be twisted to our advantage if we spin it right.
Click to expand...
Aren't pilots who carry required to load and unload their sidearms several times per day? I remember reading an article in American Rifleman or another mag that said they have to do this basically every time they land or take off. Maybe someone reading this has more info on it.
If that's true, very stupid policy. Guns don't just 'go off' but there is no sense in making people load and unload their firearms more than necessary.
 
I think that antis could have a field day with this one. It validates much of what they were saying.

Why would he even have a round chambered in the first place, though? I would think condition 3 would be fine for a gun kept in the cockpit behind a locked door.
 
While I hate rules, if they are required to keep the doors locked now, there is really no reason to have it locked and loaded. You aren't trying for a quick draw situation or anything.

My first gut reaction is carelessness. We'll see.
 
Seems to me you'd want to NOT have a round chambered in a gun carried by a flight officer. Cockpit doors are pretty well fortified now, wouldn't take much time at all to rack in a round.
 
What this demonstrates is that it IS possible for a round to be fired inside of an airplane without it automatically going down in a flaming wreck, as many people seem to think.
Click to expand...

Without going into the details, there are MUCH bigger holes in the pressure vessel of an airliner than even a half inch. pressurized aircraft are constantly leaking and repressurizing, and the pressurization system can handle quite a few bullet holes.

If you can't handle a gun, you can't handle a multi-engine, jet aircraft.
Click to expand...

not true. I have plenty of pilot friends who don't know the first thing about guns, but fly better than I do. I fly pretty well (multi engine aircraft, too!), but I probably handle guns marginally safer. I've never had the opportunity to mix those two activities though.
 
It is TSA's fault for requiring a dangerous procedure.

FFDO's are required to "handle" and load and unload the gun in the cockpit before and after every flight.
 
If you can't handle a gun, you can't handle a multi-engine, jet aircraft.
Click to expand...
not true. I have plenty of pilot friends who don't know the first thing about guns, but fly better than I do. I fly pretty well (multi engine aircraft, too!), but I probably handle guns marginally safer. I've never had the opportunity to mix those two activities though.
Click to expand...
He's saying it is much easier to safely handle a gun than to safely fly an aircraft. Therefore, if someone cannot be taught to always obey the Four Rules, he cannot be trusted with an aircraft. i tend to agree.
 
HungSquirrel is right. A multi engine, jet aircraft is a more sophisticated system than any firearm by an order of several magnitudes. There shouldn't be any excuse for this sort of thing.
 
How many buttons and switches are there in an Airbus A319 cockpit? There's one on a gun that matters. Four Rules, always.

Pilots don't mess unnecessarily with cockpit controls. The same philosophy should apply to their sidearms: minimize unnecessary gun handling. Let them leave their guns loaded and holstered.
 
Huh?!? Geesh...

Huh?!? Gee, I wonder how an "object or tool" went off all by itself?!? This is what us pro gun people preach to the anti gunners ALL of the time. A firearm has NO pulse of it's own. It takes a well trained monkey or a human being to squeeze the trigger and make a firearm shoot.

It takes a human being to do something in an A.D. of a firearm or negligence in using a firearm or ANY OTHER TOOL or object.

I wonder what the rest of the story is on this.

By the way, I think that ALL pilots should pack heat and be well trained, on a regular basis, when it comes to allowing firearms on planes. Same thing for the rest of the flight crew.

I think that citizens should be able to have firearms on planes too. Of course, that is not "allowed". I think that the SECOND means exactly what it says.

I can remember not too long after my late husband died and AFTER 9/11/01 when I went into a building supply store to buy a new drywall or box cutter knife with extra blades. I asked the clerk behind the counter if I now needed a stinking PERMIT or NICS check to buy the said knife from Homeland INsecurity and the rest of the alphabet agencies! The clerk did not get my POINT but another middle aged man behind me understood exactly what I meant. (I was 51 years old at the time.)

Please keep us informed about this "story". Thank you.

Sincerely,

Catherine
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
  • Locked
Pilot's Gun Fires on US Airways Jet
Replies
1
Views
433
Fred Fuller
F
B
  • Locked
Pilot to be fired for accidental discharge
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
stevelyn
S
v35
  • Locked
They let people like this be attorneys?
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
v35
v35
W
  • Locked
A pilot's gun inside a lockbox goes missing from the cargo hold of a commercial jet
Replies
18
Views
1K
BryanP
B
T
  • Locked
Passenger stabbed in mid air on Thai Airways flight
Replies
8
Views
562
4v50 Gary
4v50 Gary
Back
Top